Friday catblogging: chow time

I hate to break it to you, MaryAnn, but I think you're feeding a dustmop (on the left).

I wondered why he wasn't moving very much...

This picture reminds me of something my brother's cat Fred (one of three) does at mealtime. It's cat behavior I've never seen from another cat, and I've always wondered just how unusual it is. Each cat has his/her own dish, of course, but the first dish with fresh food to hit the floor is perceived as extremely desirable, so all the cats stick their faces in and go for it. But Fred does something clever - he stretches a paw out to the top of the dish, and pulls it toward him (thus establishing exclusive domain over that particular dish, just as dishes 2 and 3 are likely hitting the floor.) Neither of the other two cats seems to have either figured out how to duplicate Fred's gambit, or a counter-measure for it. Is this typical cat behavior?

My three cats don't really like one another, but there's no fighting or games of domination at chow time. There seems to be no hierarchy of the bowls in my kitchen.